Has Microsoft stumbled?

[Tommy Vercetti]

Easily, that is precisely why I like the smaller start menu, its less intrusive and doesn't cover up what I have up. Especially if I have a group chat or any chat up and I only have certain programs on it that I don't have on my taskbar and don't want to have on my desktop (trying to keep it neat, tidy, and largely to display my wallpaper collection).

Although hitting the Windows key is annoying regardless, especially in a game. So many crashes

Thankfully my keyboard has a sliding button that disables it.

Stuff like this is why I think the changes to Windows 8 are bad. They take away a lot of the strengths of Windows. One of the best strengths of Windows has been Multitasking. This handicaps you. MS can take several approaches to Windows 9.

1. Give in to the PC traditionalists and do away with Metro and the start screen on PC but keep it for tablets and phones.

2. Try to find a happy medium and make Metro less prominent and easier to avoid. Allowing the start menu back as an option, maybe even the default option.

3. Be idiots and keep screwing up Windows by being too stubborn to admit they screwed up.

 

[Zelig]

Easily, that is precisely why I like the smaller start menu, its less intrusive and doesn't cover up what I have up. Especially if I have a group chat or any chat up and I only have certain programs on it that I don't have on my taskbar and don't want to have on my desktop (trying to keep it neat, tidy, and largely to display my wallpaper collection).

Although hitting the Windows key is annoying regardless, especially in a game. So many crashes

Thankfully my keyboard has a sliding button that disables it.

I'm not really sure how it affects chat programs at all? After you open something from the start screen, the effect is exactly the same as opening something from the start menu.

Stuff like this is why I think the changes to Windows 8 are bad. They take away a lot of the strengths of Windows. One of the best strengths of Windows has been Multitasking. This handicaps you. MS can take several approaches to Windows 9.

1. Give in to the PC traditionalists and do away with Metro and the start screen on PC but keep it for tablets and phones.

2. Try to find a happy medium and make Metro less prominent and easier to avoid. Allowing the start menu back as an option, maybe even the default option.

3. Be idiots and keep screwing up Windows by being too stubborn to admit they screwed up.

You realize Metro is already optional, and easily avoidable?

Am I somehow mistaken about my avoidance of Metro on my PC?

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

I'm not really sure how it affects chat programs at all? After you open something from the start screen, the effect is exactly the same as opening something from the start menu.



You realize Metro is already optional, and easily avoidable?

Am I somehow mistaken about my avoidance of Metro on my PC?

When I listed the second option, I mean make booting straight to desktop and make the desktop with the start menu the default setting.

 

[Zelig]

When I listed the second option, I mean make booting straight to desktop and make the desktop with the start menu the default setting.

What's the first thing you do after you boot your computer to the desktop?

 

[GenMarshall]

Is this actually a problem anyone who has used Windows 8 for a decent amount of time has?

If you're opening the start menu and clicking around in there, I don't see how you're going to be looking at a youtube video at the same time...

Maniacal has that pretty much covered. Generally we eather look at the start button and it's contents with a quick glance or with our peripheral vision.

I'm not really sure how it affects chat programs at all? After you open something from the start screen, the effect is exactly the same as opening something from the start menu.

Not really. Window 8's start screen obscures the entirety of the desktop. In Maniacal's example, he could miss something going on in the chat that he's participating, especially if the chat in-question is fast paced. In Windows 7, the start menu stays in that corner, keeping itself unobstructed from the program(s) you're using.

What's the first thing you do after you boot your computer to the desktop?

Most users of Windows from 95 to 7 (and other distros of Linux, if it's set up to autologin) just boot the computer straight away and proceeds to load the OS right to the desktop. No prompts or nothing. Just hit the power button and you're set to go. If one person is the only sole user of the computer, they normally don't set up any sort of password prompt/login.

 

[Zelig]

Maniacal has that pretty much covered. Generally we eather look at the start button and it's contents with a quick glance or with our peripheral vision.

You can operate the start menu with your peripheral vision? That seems far-fetched to me.

And if it's just a quick glance, you can do exactly the same thing with a quick glance at the start screen.

Not really. Window 8's start screen obscures the entirety of the desktop. In Maniacal's example, he could miss something going on in the chat that he's participating, especially if the chat in-question is fast paced. In Windows 7, the start menu stays in that corner, keeping itself unobstructed from the program(s) you're using.

Yes, I get that it covers the desktop, but I don't buy that there's a non-negligible portion of people who use the start menu without looking at it.

Most users of Windows from 95 to 7 (and other distros of Linux, if it's set up to autologin) just boot the computer straight away and proceeds to load the OS right to the desktop. No prompts or nothing. Just hit the power button and you're set to go. If one person is the only sole user of the computer, they normally don't set up any sort of password prompt/login.

That's terrible practice, and I would never recommend having a computer not password protected, but is unrelated to my question.

My question was "what is the first thing you do after you get to the desktop"?

 

[Mr.WorldWide]

Forget Metro, the 'charms' bar is 20x more annoying. It is forever popping up when I don't need it lolz. How should us regressive desktop lovers ignore that charming bar?

 

[Zelig]

Forget Metro, the 'charms' bar is 20x more annoying. It is forever popping up when I don't need it lolz. How should us regressive desktop lovers ignore that charming bar?

How are you opening it by accident?

 

[Maniacal]

'Charms'?

My question was "what is the first thing you do after you get to the desktop"?

Admire my wallpaper.

Then I start Steam, Opera (~12-25 tabs) and Chrome.

 

[Zelig]

Start Steam, Opera (~12-25 tabs) and Chrome. All off my taskbar.

How do you start Steam? Is it on the taskbar, the desktop, or the start menu?

 

[Mr.WorldWide]

Well from the top when I close other windows and from the bottom because my screengrab tool is docked down there along with half a dozen other utils(skype,networks,Tomboy, duplicati...)

That aside, it's part of metro and I'd rather not see it on my desktop.

Several years ago I had a webcam dock for my laptop and the damn thing would pop out just like the charms all the time, annoyed the hell out of me until I realized I could disable it. :noob:

 

[Zelig]

It doesn't open if you just move to the corners, you have to hover in the corner for a second or so to get the inactive mostly transparent overlay to show up - you only get the actual charms bar if you move the cursor straight up or down along the edge of the screen - so my only suggestion is to not do this, if you don't want to open the charms bar.

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

What's the first thing you do after you boot your computer to the desktop?

That varies on what I am going to do that day. Sometimes I get on the internet some times I play one of my games.

 

[Archbob]

How do you start Steam? Is it on the taskbar, the desktop, or the start menu?

Its one of the many small icons I have on my desktop. I have a lot of icons there. Metro icons suck compared to the regular desktop ones. You seem to be obsessed with use cases, that's not whats turning people off, its the look and the feel just plain sucks. Its big, blocky, and clunky, things that people don't like. Adoption rates show handily that people don't like it regardless of review links you brought up. Even MS selling it at $30 and trying to force it on all new machines isn't working.

 

[Zelig]

That varies on what I am going to do that day. Sometimes I get on the internet some times I play one of my games.

And can you name a specific thing that works better from the desktop than the start screen?

Its one of the many small icons I have on my desktop. I have a lot of icons there. Metro icons suck compared to the regular desktop ones. You seem to be obsessed with use cases, that's not whats turning people off, its the look and the feel just plain sucks. Its big, blocky, and clunky, things that people don't like. Adoption rates show handily that people don't like it regardless of review links you brought up. Even MS selling it at $30 and trying to force it on all new machines isn't working.

You seem to be obsessed with subjective appearance that has no influence on usability.

If your only complaint is lack of icon density, 8.1 allows smaller start screen icons.

 

[Archbob]

You seem to be obsessed with subjective appearance that has no influence on usability.

If your only complaint is lack of icon density, 8.1 allows smaller start screen icons.

That's far more important to most people than saving 2 seconds on bringing up a program. If it doesn't look good or feels clunky, then people don't want it.

Windows 8 from a sales and adoption standpoint has been a disaster and there's a good chance it won't ever catch on before 9 comes out. No one wants the blocky icons or the absence of a start button.

 

[Zelig]

That's far more important to most people than saving 2 seconds on bringing up a program. If it doesn't look good or feels clunky, then people don't want it.

Windows 8 from a sales and adoption standpoint has been a disaster and there's a good chance it won't ever catch on before 9 comes out. No one wants the blocky icons or the absence of a start button.

So you admit that you have no actual criticisms of Windows 8, other than not personally liking the appearance.

 

[Archbob]

So you admit that you have no actual criticisms of Windows 8, other than not personally liking the appearance.

That probably the most critical part, if users have a bad experience with it, they're not going to buy it or they'll downgrade from it. The appearance may be the most important thing in an OS and most people don't like Win 8's appearance. Its plain clunky and blocky and the absence of a start button makes things harder because most people don't type in the program name they wish to run. It makes doing things harder, less intuitive and slower. You don't seem to understand the Windows User Base.

The main reason I don't like Mac is because the UI also. Funtionally, its fine(aside from some program not being written for Mac), but I won't get it because of the UI. The UI and appearance makes or breaks an OS Zelig, and Win 8's new UI has broken it with customers.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

You never have to look at Metro, the appearance is identical to Win 7 if you don't open Metro.

 

[GenMarshall]

How do you start Steam? Is it on the taskbar, the desktop, or the start menu?

Steam autoruns when windows goes to desktop.